For four decades,Tom Osborne
has been an Omaha football breakfast fixture. “Anybody here today
remember Johnny’s Café?” Osborne asked when he stepped onto a stage at
the Ramada Plaza Hotel and Convention Center Friday morning, referring
to the South Omaha steakhouse that was the original home of the Big Red
Breakfast in the early 1970s.

“Geez,” Osborne said when he spotted a few hands go up, “you guys gotta be about a hundred years old.”

Ted Grace, a builder who lives in Valley,
Neb., was one of the few in a room of more than 300 Husker fans whose
hand went up. “I’ve been coming to these breakfasts since Bob Devaney
and Tom started them in the ’70s,” Grace said. “I’ve seen hundreds of
these events, and this is probably the best because it was Tom’s last.
He always brings integrity and perspective. He always brings humor and
humility. Every time I’ve ever seen him break down film over all these
years, he brings credibility not only to the football program, but to
the university and the entire state.

“As a fan,” Grace asked, “how can it possibly be any better than to have Tom Osborne be your head coach, your Congressman and
your athletic director? You could see how he touches people before,
during and after the breakfast. I am amazed at how he stays on top of
the football program, how he still breaks down film and how patient he
is with every request for an autograph, a picture or just a handshake.”

Signs Shirts, Magazines and His Own Book

Maureen Kopocis of Ralston asked Osborne to
sign her new Nebraska shirt. Bob Lodes of Omaha needed the legendary
coach’s signature on The Osborne Era – a Sports Illustrated
cover commemorating the greatest five-year run in college football
history. Omaha’s John Kinney and Jack Kinney, his 10-year-old son, made a
joint request for Osborne to sign Faith in the Game, an Osborne-authored book they’ve been reading together one chapter at a time.

And that’s just a quick snapshot of what
happens when a Hall-of-Fame football coach and soon-to-be retired
athletic director makes his final football-related public appearance in
the heart of Nebraska’s largest city.

“I remember when Tom would come up every week
and show us the game film before he’d head over to the TV station to
tape his weekly show,” Grace said.

“It used to be we went through the whole
film, and at the end, there was about eight guys left,” Osborne said
with a smile and a nod that those who raised their hands might still be
the same eight from yesteryear.

Three Bellevue Men See First Sunrise Service

Three fans who never had a chance to see
Osborne analyze film or pour a cup of early morning wisdom found their
first sunrise service a memorable one. The three attend the same
Bellevue church, and they all insist their first-ever breakfast
breakdown film session could not have been more entertaining. Tom
Skinner, 74, Wes Hansen, 70, and Ed Hanline, 54, left their inaugural
T.O. event fully impressed.

“We’ve never met Tom until today, but we all feel like we know him,” Hansen said. “(Former Husker quarterback)Tom Sorley’s parents lived right down the street from us, so we always heard stories about his integrity.”

Skinner was particularly impressed hearing
Osborne describe how he involved everyone in the Athletic Department to
write five core values and develop a mission statement. “Integrity’s No.
1,” Skinner pointed out. “You can see it in the leadership Tom showed
today.”

Show Integrity, Leadership; Recruit Character

“It helps you understand why his teams were
so successful,” Hanline said. “He recruited character to go with the
integrity and leadership. You can see how his short list of guiding
principles created life success, not just football success.”

Osborne would leave later Friday morning on
the team flight from Lincoln to Indianapolis for Saturday night’s
nationally televised Nebraska-Wisconsin Big Ten Championship game, but
he accommodated two dozen people before his presentation and another
three dozen after his post-presentation radio interview.

“He was nothing but class every minute he was
here,” said Jim Kalal of Ralston. “He’s inspired so many people in this
state and affected so many lives throughout the country.”

Within seconds of getting out of his SUV in
front of the hotel, Osborne was asked for an autograph. A few yards
later, another fan asked for a picture. Osborne graciously accommodated
both 6:40 a.m. requests. He signed jackets, sweatshirts, helmets,
footballs, books, magazines, posters, pictures, CD’s and videos. When he
told a classic yarn about hunting with Tony Davis and a familiar tale about golfing with Bob Devaney, the banquet room lit up with laughter, even for those who had heard them before.

The Blackshirts: New Take on an Old Legend

Pat Lawlor of Omaha had flashbacks of growing
up in Lincoln where his father owned the sporting goods store that
supplied the first Blackshirt practice jerseys in Nebraska football
history.

“My grandfather (JohnLawlor)told me that (former Devaney assistant)Jim Ross
came into the store one afternoon and wanted some jerseys that weren’t
red,” Pat recalled. “He took Jim about four floors upstairs and had a
whole section of black jerseys. He threw an armful at Coach Ross and
said: ‘Here, take these. I’ve never been able to get rid of ‘em …take ‘em all … nobody wants ‘em.”

Lawlor said his family sold Nebraska football
gear to the University of Nebraska in the 1890s when the Huskers
launched their program. “We still have every newsletter from the 1930s
that covers all of our days in the Big Six Conference.”

The Big Six, Seven, Eight, 12 and Ten

The Big Six morphed into the Big Seven, then
the Big Eight, then the Big 12 and now the Big Ten. Lawlor is well aware
that Nebraska has not won a conference championship in 13 years. “I
think we’re all ready to see that happen tomorrow night,” he said,
knowing full well how important the Blackshirts will be in that
history-making moment.